Stuttgart Open Champion Taylor Fritz Slams ‘Awful’ Rule Change Because It’s ‘Bad’ for Tennis

Taylor Fritz denied Alexander Zverev his first grass-court title by beating him in the Stuttgart Open final

Stuttgart Open Champion Taylor Fritz Slams ‘Awful’ Rule Change Because It’s ‘Bad’ for Tennis

Taylor Fritz (Image via X/Wimbledon)

Taylor Fritz ended his trophy drought at the Stuttgart Open by beating World No.3 Alexander Zverev in the final. It was his fourth title on grass following three wins at the Eastbourne International. Fritz has now improved his head-to-head lead over the German to 8-5, clinching his five consecutive victories over him.

Fritz recently sat down for an interview on the Tennis Insider Club podcast. Among various topics, the American ace expressed his frustration over the on-court coaching rule. He said tennis is an individual sport and players must learn to figure out things on their own without taking any help from the coaches.

Oh, yeah. It’s awful,’ I understand it. I think it’s bad for the game; the game of tennis, it’s definitely bad, but for, like, fans and stuff, if there’s a way to, like, hear what you’re saying to your coach if fans could hear that stuff, maybe that’s more entertaining, but we don’t even do that anyways.

Last year, Fritz claimed that the tournaments are “bullied into” the change because the rules are often broken. This season, the Australian Open introduced the coaching pods, that were placed in the corners of the court and allowed just four members of the coaching team to sit but it received mixed reactions from the players.

Fritz, who last year lost both the finals of the US Open and the ATP Finals to Jannik Sinner, had an inconsistent start to the season. He made early exits in the first four tournaments before reaching the Miami Open semifinal (lost to eventual winner Jakub Mensik).

His poor run of form continued on the clay swing where he failed to win more than one or two matches in the four tournaments he played, including at the French Open where Germany’s Daniel Altmaier knocked him out in the first round.

Taylor Fritz lauds Alexander Zverev after beating him in the French Open final

Alexander Zverev jokingly requested Taylor Fritz during the runner-up speech to never come to Germany as he is “tired” of meeting the 27-year-old, urging him to “stay away“. Fritz in turn only praised the three-time Grand Slam finalist for his transition from clay to grass.

Alexander Zverev (3)
Alexander Zverev (Image via X/ATP Tour)

First off congrats to Sascha and his team, you know what he did this week was really tough coming from deep in the French Open, coming up for the fans, playing for the German fans, and making this switch to the grass, so congrats it’s a good effort to be out here.

Taylor Fritz said during his runner-up speech

Before Stuttgart, Zverev, who was the runner-up last year in Paris, was defeated this time in the quarterfinals of the French Open by 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic. Zverev has won just one title this season.

After losing the Australian Open final to World No.1 Jannik Sinner, the 28-year-old lost six consecutive tournaments without winning more than one or two matches in those events. At the BMW Open then, Zverev went past Ben Shelton in the final but lost in the fourth round of the Madrid Open, in the quarterfinal of the Italian Open, and in the fourth round of the Hamburg Open before losing in Paris.

Zverev has clinched 24 titles singles titles but none of them he lifted on grass. He will next be participating at the Halle Open where he is the second seed and could meet Sinner if they both reach the final.

He will kick-start his campaign against America’s Marcos Giron, against whom, Sascha leads 3-0 in the head-to-head matchups. Fritz, on the other hand, will be participating at the Queen’s Club Championships where he will face Frenchman Corentin Moutet in the first round.

Also read: Joao Fonseca Hopes to Emulate Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner After Titanic Roland Garros Final